While Sarah Palin (pictured right) was the biggest name to appear at International Bowl Expo in Las Vegas, the former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate took a back seat to an announcement made minutes after finishing her keynote address Wednesday morning.

Joined by many of the world's top women bowlers and bowling leaders on stage at the Las Vegas Hilton, Palin learned of the return of the U.S. Women's Open in 2011. It will officially be called the U.S. Women's Open presented by the brands of Ebonite International.

While a venue for qualifying and match play rounds is yet to be determined, the televised finals will be held June 30 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The announcement was met with a stream of confetti and a standing ovation from the audience.

"This is a landmark announcement for bowling and for women's athletics," said Bowling Proprietors' Association of America Executive Director Steve Johnson (pictured left). "There is no more prestigious name in sports than the U.S. Open and no bigger venue than Cowboys Stadium.

"This event exemplifies both the surging popularity of bowling among women and heightened consumer demand to watch and attend bowling events. Anyone who has seen Bowling's U.S. Women's Open can attest that you will not find tougher, fiercer and more tenacious competitors. Also, through national television exposure, we are excited to now make Bowling's U.S. Women's Open more accessible to the public than ever before."

When Johnson learned the U.S. Women's Open was scheduled to go on hiatus after the 2010 event in May, he decided he had to do something about it. So he contacted new Ebonite International Chief Executive Officer Randy Schickert (pictured right) and thus was born the 2011 event.

"Cowboys Stadium will go from the Super Bowl (in February) to super bowling and elevate the sport to a new high," said Johnson, who only recently learned BPAA actually owned the rights to the event.

After the demise of the Professional Women's Bowling Association Tour in 2003 because of lack of funds, the United States Bowling Congress helped revive women's bowling in 2006 by sponsoring the U.S. Women's Open and Professional Bowlers Association Women's Series. Financial challenges prompted USBC to cut back those sponsorships and it seemed as if there would be no U.S. Women's Open in 2011.

Enter BPAA and Ebonite.

"Ebonite has a true passion for women's bowling," Schickert said. "When we were approached by BPAA, we jumped in. It was the right thing to do."

The announcement also came as a surprise to the vast talent of women gathered on the stage for the announcement. Joining Palin, Steve Johnson and other bowling dignitaries were star women bowlers Kim Terrell-Kearney, Tennelle Milligan, Shannon O'Keefe (pictured left), Stefanie Nation, Lynda Barnes, Clara Juliana Guerrero (right), Liz Johnson and Kelly Kulick.

Kulick beat Johnson on May 12 to win the 2010 U.S. Women's Open. At the time they thought that would be the last such tournament at least until 2012. Thanks for BPAA and Ebonite, they will be back in Dallas-Fort Worth in 2011.

"This is an incredible moment for both women's sports and the bowling industry and an opportunity for Bowling's U.S. Women's Open to rightfully take center stage before worldwide audiences," Kulick said. "Bowling's U.S. Women's Open is an event that sits at the pinnacle of women's athletics. It's both thrilling and gratifying that this event and its great women's athletes - who I'm proud to call my competitors - will be catapulted into the spotlight in 2011."